Boiled or baked onions were a popular dish with many countrymen and women. Here’s a recipe from the Yorkshire Dales. Serves four.

Ingredients

• 4 large mild tasting onions
• 1 oz (28g) butter
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 10 fl oz (half a pint/250 m) milk
• 3 fl oz (80ml) double cream
• Salt, peper, and a little grated nutmeg
• 2 oz (55g) Wensleydale cheese, grated

Method

1. Peel the onions but leave them whole. Simmer gently in water until tender, usually around 25-30 minutes
2. To make the sauce, melt and butter, add the flour, and gradually blend in the milk. Stir constantly until the sauce thickens. Allow the sauce to very gently cook for 10 minutes
3. Add the cream to the sauce and add the seasonings
4.  Split each cooked onion in half and arrange in a shallow ovenproof dish. Pour over the sauce. Top with the grated cheese and melt the cheese under a grill.

Source: Laura Mason. Farmhouse Cookery (Yorkshire). Published 2005 by National Trust Enterprises.